Punjab
sets up farm panelTo implement crop diversificationChandigarh, May 5Aimed at marketing Punjab’s
produce and also implementing crop diversification, the Punjab
Government today formed the Punjab State Farmers Commission. The
immediate task work of the commission will be to bring down the area
under rice cultivation and promote potatoes, cauliflower and okra (bhindi),
which have been marked for export.

Warm
welcome to Pak Bar Council delegatesAmritsar,
May 5
A six-member delegation of the Bar Council of Pakistan arrived in
India from the Wagah joint check post here today to interact with
judges and advocates of the Supreme Court of India and various high
courts.

26 posts
of PCS (Judicial) officer to be createdChandigarh,
May 5
For reducing the number of cases pending before courts all over the
state, the Punjab Government has decided to create 26 additional posts
of PCS (Judicial) officer. Besides, the government has decided to fill
37 vacancies.

Hanspal
holds meeting on delimitation of constituenciesChandigarh,
May 5
While the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee today started gearing up
its organisational elections, its President Mr H.S. Hanspal had
started consulting the party MLAs to prepare for the Delimitation
Commission meeting scheduled to be held on May 9.

Kiln
labourers protest against denial of minimum wagesPathankot,
May 5
Brick-kiln labourers today held a march through the town leveling
serious charges against the local labour inspector. The labourers
alleged that the labour inspector was in connivance with the owners of
the kilns.

Disparity
in excise duty leads to shifting of drug unitsPatiala,
May 5
Ms Preneet Kaur, MP, today cautioned the Union Finance Minister that
disparity in levying of excise duty on drug units situated in
different states could create a political controversy as the same had
been forcing drugs units located in Punjab to shift to other states.

Sikh
scholar honouredJalandhar,
May 5
Sikh scholar Raghbir Singh Bains, who has been selected by the British
Columbia Government for the “Order of British Columbia-2005”
award, was honoured by Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Ashok Gupta and
representatives of a number of social and literary organisations at a
function here today.

Unclean
water being supplied to villagersRopar, May
5
The rural areas of the district continue to be neglected. Thousands of
villagers of the four major subdivisions of the district are not
getting clean drinking water.

Anganwadi
workers stage protestBathinda,
May 5
Hundreds of anganwadi workers under the banner of the Anganwadi
Employees Union today staged a protest outside the mini-secretariat
against a false case registered against their Bathinda block chief
Harbans Kaur.

Suspended
CDPOs face new chargesFatehgarh
Sahib, May 5
A controversy over the recruitment of Anganwari workers has come to
the surface. The Additional Deputy Commissioner (D), who is in charge
of the inquiry of the fungus infested food supply to Anganwari
children, which led to the suspension of the Child Development and
Project officers of Sirhind and Bassi Pathana, in his report
has alleged that recruitment made by the two is illegal and not as per
merit.

Water
samples from 5 schools fail testHoshiarpur,
May 5
Students of various government schools are consuming contaminated
drinking water in Hoshiarpur district. The District Health Department
had taken water samples from eight schools and sent these for testing
to the State Public Health Laboratory, Chandigarh. Of these samples, 5
were declared unfit for human consumption.

HIGH COURTStatus
report of police probe submittedChandigarh,
May 5
The Punjab Government today submitted in Punjab and Haryana High Court
the status report in the police investigation into the alleged
vandalisation of the grave of Father Mark Barnes, a Jalandhar-based
Christian priest, who died recently.

Mann’s PIL

HC tells
DSP to take action against copAmritsar,
May 5
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the DSP, Civil Lines,
here to take action against Inspector and Jarnail Singh, in charge of
the Vijay Nagar police station, for allegedly beating up and keeping a
BJP leader in illegal custody.

Sugarfed
told to clear farmers’ arrearsChandigarh,
May 5
The Punjab Government has directed Sugarfed to clear sugarcane arrears
due towards the cooperative sugar mills up to September 30, or even
earlier.

Seminar
on organic manureRopar, May
5
The Global College of Pharmacy in Nurpur Bedi town here is organising
a one-day seminar tomorrow to encourage the farmers and local people
to adopt vermin composting for converting solid waste into organic
fertiliser, organic farming of medicinal plants, for crop
diversification and use of herbal pesticides.

Girl
student murderedDhina
(Jalandhar) May 5
A girl student was murdered just a day before her 17th birthday in her
house here last night. She was alone in the house as her father, a
Head Constable at Kapurthala, and other members of the family were
away to Dhanal Kalan village, near Lambra, to see an NRI relative.

Four
arrested in vigilance raid on grain marketFerozepore,
May 5
Sleuths of the Vigilance Bureau conducted raids at the Jalalabad grain
market and arrested four officials of different procurement agencies
after they found that sacks being used to stock the procured wheat
were of inferior quality.

Watchman
shoots thiefFazilka,
May 5
Jangir Singh (28) was allegedly shot dead by a Markfed watchman when
he along with his accomplices were trying to steal wheat from a godown
on the outskirts of the town on Ganjuana Hasta road in the wee hours
of today.

One held
on charge of theftKharar,
May 5
The police has arrested one person on charges of theft, criminal
trespass, forgery and criminal conspiracy.

Person
posing as doctor heldKharar,
May 5
A person posing as a doctor entered the emergency ward of the Civil
Hospital here and started examining patients last night. He was later
caught and handed over to the police.

Admission
schedule for BSc (Agri)Amritsar,
May 5
Guru Nanak Dev University has announced the admission schedule for
B.Sc./M.Sc. Agriculture (Hons) and Food Science and Technology courses
for the session 2005-06.

Foundation
Day celebratedPatiala,
May 5
Budha Dal Public School, Samana celebrated its 16th Foundation Day
today. The school authorities said that students participated in a
three-km cross country race which was flagged off by the President of
the school Managing Committee, Baba Uday Singh.